Srinagar roads, highway blocked; flights, trains cancelled after heavy snowfall
Weather LIVE Updates: IMD issued weather alert for northwest India in the wake of ‘intense Western disturbance.’ It forecasted rainfall in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh; and snowfall in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
THE India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a weather alert for northwest India in the wake of ‘intense Western disturbance.’
While Shimla witnessed the first snowfall of the season, Gulmarg recorded 20-24 inches of snow on Friday. Delhi's AQI improved to the ‘poor’ range after precipitation on Basant Panchmi ended the dry spell.
Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was shut down after heavy snowfall disrupted traffic movement. Multiple flights at Srinagar Airport have been cancelled due to a NOTAM in force at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and ongoing snowfall conditions at Srinagar.
IMD in a post on X stated, "Due to an intense Western disturbance, heavy rainfall/ snowfall accompanied by hailstorms, lightning & gusty winds likely at isolated places over the Western Himalayan region on 22nd & 23rd January, 2026. Light to moderate rainfall is also likely at a few places over the plains of northwest India during the same period.
All flights were cancelled at Srinagar airport due to heavy snowfall on 23 January.
SpiceJet's travel advisory for Delhi said, “Due to bad weather (rainfall) in Delhi (DEL), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may be affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status via http://spicejet.com/#status.”
Air India issued a travel advisory on Friday, stating, “Snowfall has impacted our flight operations to and from Srinagar this morning, resulting in extended wait times.”
IndiGo's travel advisory states, “Bad weather over #Jammu, #Srinagar, #Leh, #Dharamshala and #Chandigarh have impacted flight schedules. We are closely monitoring the weather and doing our best to get you where you need to be, safely and smoothly.”
On Friday, rail services on the Banihal–Baramulla section were suspended after heavy snowfall. Authorities cancelled multiple passenger trains due to heavy snowfall in parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
Snow clearance operations are underway at Srinagar Airport, but the authorities said that the current weather conditions indicate that normalisation of services may take longer than expected.
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